For the last couple of years I have been going to Sandhurst, one of CEMEX Angling’s day ticket waters, to try to catch a big common or two. Well, as some of you may have read before, I had managed some stunning fish and I am still going there to try to get that real big one. Recently, I have been asked how do I go about tackling a day ticket water when I live so far away and how do I go about it all? So I thought I would put pen to paper, so to speak, and see if I can describe a few things as we go along.
We will assume that we have chosen the water because it holds what we are after, be it a big common, like my chosen quarry, or a 30-pounder or whatever we are targeting and now we are sitting at home, miles from the place, and we have to find out more about it. I will firstly get on the Internet and search for anything I can find about the water. Some day ticket fisheries have their own websites where you can see catch reports and all sorts of information. Some of the information will be up to date and some wont, that’s why its better to read the forums if the fishery has one as then you can see actual dates as to when the information has been written.
Magazines also give information about the better known fisheries as they do features on these waters and they can give out valuable tips on going baits and rigs but as to the date of these features who knows? We all notice from time to time the winter feature where the trees have leaves on, or the feature that says 'get down there as it's fishing well at the moment' but the catches in the article were made two or three months before. So, take dates of information with a pinch of salt unless you can confirm them.
Right, now we have found out things like how many swims there are on the venue, and whether it has islands, lilies and all sorts of other stuff like that. We may have even got a map if we are lucky. Aerial pictures are also very useful, as not only may they show you the shallow areas if you are lucky but they also give you a ‘real’ sight of the place. You can actually see the lake in photo form, which is invaluable. It makes you feel more in tune somehow when you can see pictures of the place before you go. If you live near enough then obviously see if you can go and visit the water a few times before you fish to get to know the place a bit and learn as much as you can. For this piece though I am assuming that like myself you don’t live that near so will be fishing sort of blind, for the first session at least.
You may now be holding some of the cards as you have some information and you may even know some of the favourite swims, but now is the time to get off and fish the place. Before setting out, however, I would get a few different baits in your armoury. You will be fishing water you don’t know and it pays to take various baits. I will always take a boilie that I am totally confident with, as well as some hemp, sweetcorn, maggots, tigers, pop-ups and anything else I am confident in for the first session at least. I won’t take huge quantities of each but a few different things just in case.
Right so we are off to the water with all the gear we think we may need, which is always more than you will want, for the first trip at least, but better safe than sorry. Upon arrival at the lake I will lock up the car and go for a long, slow walk round, assuming that it is safe to leave the car with the gear in it. If you are doubtful of this then I would load the gear onto my barrow and then wander around with it in tow. I would much rather spend ages walking round to find a good spot, with hopefully a good chance of a fish or two, than drop into the first available swim and maybe not be in the best place. If there are any bailiffs around then I would always have a chat with them as they will be hopefully very informative and I must say that on Sandy they are very good indeed.
I will now switch to how I fished my last session at Sandhurst as that’s how I like to approach sessions when not near home and having to do three nights or more. I turned up, as I said before, in the car park and had a very quick wander round but most of the swims I knew were occupied. I had a bit of a ponder but as day ticket waters can fill up very quickly I chose a corner swim, which had the breeze blowing into it and its right-hand edge was all along a no-fishing bank and these areas of waters are sometimes very good places to fish. I had a very quick plumb around to see if I could find any areas that seemed different. I like to find things that seem out of the norm in the swim to fish to, whether they are a small gravel area or a deeper section or a gravel bar which is slightly shallower than the surrounding area. Anything different is worth having a look at.
I found a small gravel area out in front of the swim, at around 40 or 50 yards and I placed one bait on the gravel and one just off it in the silty area beside it. I then put out six or seven spods of my mix of maggots, ground hemp and Blitz around the area. I didn’t fill it in as you never know who was fishing the swim last and whether they have filled it in before you. The last rod was positioned off to my right towards the out-of-bounds area with a very slow sinking snowman rig on and a stringer of half-boilies attached but no freebies at all.
I was glad I had plumbed that section though, as another angler had told me it was very very shallow right along that bank and he was right I had to come away from the bank by around ten yards or so to be in water deep enough for the fish to feed in. Obviously in the summer it would be even shallower.
As soon as I had the bivvy up, though, the breeze changed direction and was now blowing down the other end of the lake. I was not happy. The weather reports had told me that the wind would change direction but not until the Sunday, and here we were on the Thursday and it had moved already. I fished the swim for the rest of the day and that night but I just didn’t feel happy there, so I wound in and went for a walk round the lake again.
I was gone for a good two hours I should say and I talked to other anglers about all sorts of things, including if they had caught and general stuff about the water. Eventually, I saw an angler packing up about half-way down the lake so I went and had a look at the area and after chatting to the angler in the swim to the right, and seeing a few fish top out in front of the area, I spent a fair time moving all my gear round to swim number 12. Now I knew the swim to the right, number 13, as I had caught a couple of 30s from there a few months earlier but I hadn’t fished this swim before. I didn’t want to plumb around, either, so I took an educated guess for the rest of the day and put one out the same distance as I had one of the 30s, one out around 30 yards to a silty area I knew ran along in front of these swims and the other was supposed to be a rover if I saw any more fish.
Now while I was still getting the place tidy after the move, Dave, the angler to my right, came and asked if i would take some piccies for him. It was a lovely fish and I noticed he was using maggots for bait. Now I had been fishing one bait on the mag-aligner and one on the ball of maggots method but after seeing Dave's fish I switched to the mag-aligner again on two, the third still kept the slow sinking snowman rig with the half-bait stringers on as I had caught the majority of my fish from this water on that method.
Nothing happed that day for me, or during the night either, and then Dave had to go home. I had a hard look at the spot where Dave had been fishing as no-one else was fishing anywhere near it, even though it must have been over half-way across. Most of the anglers were using bait boats and so obviously it was not a problem for them to fish at those ranges.
I dropped the size of my PVA stocking of maggots down to around the size of a golf ball and then launched one out to his spot. The breeze was making it a bit harder but after about three casts on each of my two rods I had them where I wanted them. I like my hooks to be as sharp as possible and to this end I had brand new ones on, the two maggot ones had hard rubber maggies as the line aligner sections and a soft maggot on the bend, these were nicked into the very edge of the PVA stockings so as not to get a real maggot stuck on the hook once the bag melted.
Anyway, just before 12pm one of the maggot rigs tore off. I picked the rod up and it tore off again about another 30 yards, and I just held on, praying the hook didn’t come out. Luckily it didn’t and after what seemed like ages I wrapped a large common up in my net. An angler who I had met for the first time on Thursday had wound in and come round when he saw me get the net ready during the fight and he did some pukka piccies for me. Many thanks John, I owe you one mate. On the scales the fish went 29lbs exactly and it was one of the best fights I had had in many a year. The fish do go in Sandhurst so be careful playing them and don’t try to bully them too quickly. I have seen a couple come off when the angler had tried to get them in too soon.
It seemed that for this session I had found a spot and a method that worked. I hadn’t done all the work myself, you may say, if you don’t count watching others, looking at the Internet, walking round the lake, having a map that some other helpful soul had given me and all the other information that I had gleaned over the previous months, but to me all that is part of the enjoyment. I also ended up with a tench that night and another carp of 23lbs the next day, both from the same area.
I spent a fair time researching Sandhurst before going there and for me it has been working. If you want to do the same then I really wish you all the best with it. We don’t all have time to burn at the lake or live just round the corner so why not share the information so we can all have a chance of a monster or two. I will be back!
(Carponline editor)
Just stunning
Always look after your catch so someone else can enjoy the fish when they catch it.
